The launch this weekend by Baidu of a native open-source multimodal foundation model called ERNIE 4.5 and a reasoning model, ERNIE X1, could lower AI adoption barriers, intensify competition, and reshape pricing strategies across the industry, an analyst said Monday. In order for that to occur, said Thomas Randall, research lead for AI at Info-Tech Research Group, “the success of these models will depend on performance validation, developer adoption, and enterprise trust. However, they signal a global AI race where cost-efficiency and accessibility become as important as raw capability.” The ..read more

It is now clear that Google Assistant will be replaced by generative AI (genAI) tool Gemini in most Android-based phones. The process is expected to begin shortly and be completed before the end of the year, according to the official Google blog The Keyword. Mobile phones running Android 9 or earlier will not be affected by the decision, as they would likely run into problems using Gemini. In addition to smartphones, Gemini will also be integrated into tablets, smart watches, televisions, monitors, cars and headphones, according to 9to5Google ..read more

Apple has a lot of challenges these days. Would Steve Jobs really be handling these problems better than current leaders? The problems, some are long-term, others short-term, include (but are not confined to): Chinese consumers turning to domestic brands in response to the US trade war. US customers feeling the impact of tariffs and anticipated increase in product prices. Regulators in every nation seemingly intent on chipping away at the services empire Apple built from thin air.  Apple’s recently-disclosed failure to launch with Apple Intelligence. S ..read more

Cisco is adding new features to its Webex collaboration tool as it expands its adoption of agentic AI. The latest tools include an AI Agent and an updated AI Assistant for the company’s Webex Contact Center, a collaborative tool that helps companies handle customer service calls. The AI tools are designed to bolster customer service experiences. The announcements came on the opening day of the Enterprise Connect show in Orlando, FL. The Webex AI Agent, slated to be available at the end of this month, should make customer service calls smoother by using AI alongside human agents ..read more

Google’s generative AI chatbot, named Gemini, is available as a web app. But you can also access most of Gemini’s AI tools in a side panel as you’re using Google Workspace apps including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail. Using the Gemini sidebar within a Workspace app is much more convenient and contextual than copying and pasting between browser tabs. When you’re in one of these five main Workspace apps, open the Gemini side panel by clicking the nova star icon that’s next to your user profile icon at the upper-right corner. From this side panel, you can instruct Gemini to gener ..read more

Imagine a world of the near future where Android and Apple iOS users can message one another with the certainty that their communication is secured against eavesdropping by end-to-end encryption (E2EE). And it would not only be for one-to-one chats, but across large groups of employees and users, something that is impossible to guarantee today without resorting to standalone apps such as WhatsApp. These capabilities might soon be a reality, thanks to a technical specification released this week, the GSM Association’s RCS Universal Profile version 3.0. In development since 2007 as a replacemen ..read more

For so few patches from Microsoft this month (57), we have seven zero-days to manage (with a “Patch Now” recommendation for Windows) and standard release schedules for Microsoft Office, Microsoft browsers (Edge) and Visual Studio.  Adobe is back with a critical update for Reader, but it’s not been paired (at least for now) with a Microsoft patch. To navigate what’s changed, the team from Readiness has crafted this useful infographic detailing the risks of deploying these updates to each platform. (And here’s a look at the last six months of Patch Tuesday releases.) Known issues ..read more

Popular AI services are not very good at locating the correct original source, according to a new study from Columbia Journalism Review’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. In the study, researchers selected 10 articles from 20 different publishers and then manually selected quotes from them to use in their queries. After each chatbot got the quotes, it was asked to identify the corresponding article’s title, original publisher, and publication date. The researchers deliberately chose quotes that would give the correct original source if typed into the Google search engine. In total, eight di ..read more

AI PCs could solve key issues organizations face when using cloud and data center AI instances, including cost, security, and privacy concerns, according to a new study by IDC Research. Nearly all organizations are already using or planning to use cloud-based AI platforms. At the same time, many of those projects have been stunted for various reasons, according to the according to the study, which was sponsored AMD. The percentage of AI PCs in use is expected to grow from just 5% in 2023 to 94% by 2028, IDC said. The research firm surveyed 670 IT decision-makers from large companies in the US ..read more

The most important decision in global technology is being made by a single UK judge in a small room, a decision happening in near-total privacy with no transparency at all. What’s at stake is the use of data encryption, personal privacy, and the huge risk of being forced to install backdoors into tech products. If this sounds like something that could once have happened behind the Iron Curtain, think again: This world-impacting decision is all part of what seems to be a plan to turn the nation into a surveillance society. “For your protection.” If you’ve been following along, y ..read more